Amazon Uses 1,000+ Electric Vans to Deliver to Consumers in More Than 100 U.S. Cities

Amazon is utilizing more than 1,000 electric vehicles to deliver online purchases to more than 100 U.S. cities, reaching a goal it set in July. The electric vans are designed and built in partnership with manufacturer Rivian.

The rollout is the beginning of what Amazon expects to grow into a fleet of 100,000 custom electric delivery vehicles in the U.S. by 2030, reports Chain Store Age.

Amazon launched a pilot of the Rivian electric vans in Los Angeles in early 2021. As part of this test, reports CSA, Amazon delivered over 430,000 packages and accumulated over 90,000 miles with the Rivian vans. The Rivian investment, first announced in 2019, is part of Amazon’s Climate Pledge to be net zero carbon across its entire business by 2040.

The custom vehicles are made at Rivian’s factory in Illinois, and include technology and features such as a safety-first design focused on 360-degree visibility and protecting drivers and pedestrians; safety features including sensor detection, highway, and traffic assist technology; embedded technology that fully integrates the delivery workflow with the vehicle, enabling seamless access to routing, navigation, and driver support; and batteries that are light, resilient, and low-cost, in addition to lasting the lifetime of the vehicle.

“We’re always excited for the holiday season, but making deliveries to customers across the country with our new zero-emission vehicles for the first time makes this year unique,” said Udit Madan, VP of Amazon Transportation. “We’ve already delivered over 5 million packages with our vehicles produced by Rivian, and this is still just the beginning—that figure will grow exponentially as we continue to make progress toward our 100,000-vehicle goal.”